There for you
by MusesatMidnight
Summary: The last battle to take place between the Akatsuki and Konoha and Sakura is in trouble...


A/N: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I also don't own the songs: _There for You_ by _Flyleaf_, or _9 crimes_ by _Damien Rice_, or _Where are you Now_ by _Justin Beiber_ which this fanfic was inspired by. I did however make up the plot!

_There for You_

His breath caught in his throat as he surveyed the burnt and crumbled buildings of his childhood. Rubble was strewn across the streets. Personal items, cherished for years by families lay broken and destroyed on the cobbled road. Naruto's eyes flooded with tears and he furiously wiped at his eyes. He was too late. Chasing after dreams and he had succeeded, too late. He had become more powerful in order to protect his important people and he was just minutes too late to save any of them. Images of happier times flashed through his mind, Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Kakashi, all his friends and his closest friend, Sakura. Naruto knew he had to find their bodies. He had been unable to do anything else but he could give them decent burials at least. He began to shovel rubble and parts of buildings, searching for bodies, dead or alive.

* * *

Sakura woke suddenly and sucked in a huge lungful of air. She then began panting, desperately trying to fill her oxygen starved lungs. It was pitch black wherever she was and warm. Dust filled the air and she began to cough, her throat and mouth dry. Once she had finished coughing and had enough oxygen in her lungs she thought back over the events before she had passed out.  
_It had been a normal day in Konoha, she had been going to the hospital to do her shift and everything had seemed perfectly normal. Naruto had been gone for several months on a trip to enlighten him and help him gain strength and Sakura had admitted to herself that she missed the blond, loud-mouthed team-mate. Then an explosion had rocked the entire town and screams could be heard from the south gate. Not even hesitating Sakura had pelted to the source of the screams without a second thought. It was the Akatsuki. As Sakura had skidded to halt her eyes had met the dark orbs of Itachi Uchiha and a shiver of fear had run up her spine.  
Then everything had been a blur of healing and fighting non-stop, until Sakura stood before the elder Uchiha heavily wounded but still proud and capable of defending her home. A furious battle had ensued between her and Itachi and she had even managed to land a few harmful blows. Still she was not a match for the older man and certainly not with as many open wounds still bleeding. The last blow she managed to land on the Uchiha had cost her dearly. Her chakra enhanced strength had broken several of the Uchiha's ribs, however to cause such a blow she had, had to get close to the Uchiha and left herself open for attack. Itachi had grabbed her other arm and broken it one move. Then he had simply punched her, but that one punch met no resistance and Sakura's body had flown easily through several walls and buildings until Sakura had been stopped by a male chest and strong arms. On the brink of passing out Sakura had blinked blearily up at the face of her rescuer. Despite her immense pain her eyes widened and he lips moved enough to say one word,  
"Sasuke-kun." Then she had passed out.  
Sakura gasped. "SASUKE!" he had come back. __**He had returned.**_  
Sakura once again returned to her surroundings with new fervour. She could feel the hard ground beneath her back and could tell her head was resting on a slab or rock. However there was something heavy pressing down on her front and was slowly sinking further down and causing her to take shallower breaths. If she didn't escape from the rubble she would be crushed or run out of oxygen. Now her only problem was how.

* * *

Naruto continued to search through the rubble almost blinded by unshed tears. Finally he sank down onto the ground and began to sob. All of the things that made up his life were gone, raised to the ground. His reasons for living were all gone. The love he had with Hinata had yet to reach its full capacity but now it never would. Naruto's chakra began to swirl violently round him, the power of the nine-tailed fox filling him and exploding from him. His immeasurable grief fuelled the power of the nine-tail.  
"N-Naruto?" Came a timid voice. "Is it really you?" A pair of small arms were flung round the blond boy's neck and hung on tight, oblivious to the raging chakra swirling and beating wildly around. The Kyuubi boy breathed in deeply and inhaled a familiar and welcome scent. The chakra calmed down almost at once and Naruto spun around to face Hinata, tears still streaming down his face.  
"Hinata!" The boy flung his arms round the small blue-haired girl and pressed her into his chest. Hinata blushed a deep red but placed her arms around the sobbing boy and softly murmured reassurances to him.  
"I thought I'd lost you Hinata. I was so afraid."  
"Naruto-kun, it's alright. I'm fine."  
"I should have been there. There for you and for everyone else!"  
"We're all fine Naruto. There's only one person missing and we're searching for her now, but I don't think she's dead. Sakura-chan wouldn't just die and leave us alone." Hinata's stammering which had bothered her for many years had departed as she comforted her boyfriend and took control.  
"Sakura-chan's missing?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling slightly.  
"Yes, but she's not dead. You hear me Naruto? We're going to find her. You, me, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino and everyone else, we'll find Sakura."  
"I'm so sorry Hinata. But let's find Sakura-chan."  
The two lovers ran off further into the rubble and began to call Sakura's name whilst lifting up rubble and piling it up to one side. They were quickly joined by the others and they began to widen their search. However it would be hours before they reached the place where Sakura lay, injured and losing oxygen slowly but surely. The problem was Sakura Haruno only had minutes left to live.

* * *

Blood dripped down the muscled length of his arm and began to puddle on the floor. Several cuts littered the muscled form which stood amongst the rubble. Flames rose harsh and bright against the dark smoke-filled sky. Despite the heat from the fires surrounding the man the night air was bitterly cold and his breaths which were coming harshly were showing in the air as small puffs, like dragon smoke. The sword was grasped tightly in his hand and was stained with recent blood and Sasuke regarded Itachi with cold eyes. The Avenger had returned to his home village the moment he knew the Akatsuki were launching an attack and he had arrived just in time to save the life of his former team mate. Although Sasuke had acted indifferently every time Sakura and Naruto had attempted to bring him back to Konoha he had secretly wanted to return with them and return to being the younger more carefree person he used to be and lose the bitter and twisted man he had become. Seeing Sakura once again and feeling her lithe form in his arms brought back fond memories and images of missions with Team 7. He had scanned her body for any majorly life-threatening wounds and upon finding none he had lain her unconscious body down inside a building and leapt out to fight his brother in one last battle to the death. All the other Akatsuki members were dead as well as the depraved Orichimaru who had manipulated Sasuke so easily. Sasuke had taken great pleasure in running the bastard through with his sword and then slicing his head off.  
Now however, all his attention was focused on his older brother and getting to Sakura. The fight had been going in Sasuke's favour until Itachi managed to throw him through a building, the same building where he had placed Sakura to protect her. The building being weak and unstable from all the explosions nearby and the heat from the flames had, quickly collapsed trapping an unconscious Sakura inside. The fight had simply gone downhill from there.  
Despite Sasuke's best efforts he was severely distracted by the thought of Sakura lying trapped under the rubble and he couldn't keep his attention on the fight. Blood had flowed from both sides however Sasuke was beginning to look worse for wear and knew that unless he acted quickly both he and Sakura would die.

* * *

Sakura pounded once again on the huge slab of concrete which was getting closer and closer to the top of her skull and would in minutes crush it like a nut in a nutcracker but more painfully and a lot messier. Sakura sniggered to herself despite the situation at the fact that that she had just compared her life-endangered situation with a nut. She quickly sobered up again though as the concrete slab moved closer. Sakura gritted her teeth and began to summon chakra to her hands, arms, shoulders and upper body. She refused to die in this pit. She refused to die without seeing her best friends again. She refused to die without learning more about healing. She refused to die without ever telling Naruto how much she actually did love him as a friend. She refused to die without apologising to Naruto for the way she treated him. She refused to die without hanging out with Hinata and Ino. She refused to die without redecorating her apartment. She refused to die without ever knowing a man's intimate touch. She refused to die without having had the possibility to have children. But most of all she refused to die without seeing Sasuke again and telling him she still loved him. She refused to die and not be there for him when he killed his brother.  
"I refuse to die in this pit! And I refuse to die without being there for you!" Sakura screamed as she summoned her great reserves of chakra and pushed violently up at the concrete slab. Triumph flooded her body as the slab and the other rubble flew up into the air and landed nearby. The kunoichi dragged lungfuls of air into her starved lungs and then sat up and checked her body for serious damage. Upon finding none Sakura stood and ran to the area where she had last seen Itachi.  
"Sasuke-kun I'm coming!"

* * *

A sound similar to that of an explosion echoed through the desecrated streets and was heard by the survivors who were still searching through the rubble. Naruto and Hinata both looked up in the direction the noise had come from and mutually agreed that it must have been Sakura. Who else could make a noise that loud? The motley group sped through the rubble anxious to get to Sakura's side and check that she wasn't injured badly.

* * *

Sasuke looked back toward the building where Sakura lay trapped and wished desperately his bastard of a brother would just die. As he turned his attention back to his brother he was struck in the face by his brother's sword. Sasuke felt pain blossoming across his right cheek and the force of the blow sent him soaring across to land at the pile of rubble where Sakura lay, trapped, and slowly losing air. Sasuke nearly screamed with the pain that was throbbing malevolently in his face. Then all of a sudden the pain was gone and there was a warm feeling floating over his face and over the other wounds on his battered body. Sasuke opened his eyes only to see strands of pink hair hovering in his vision. He stared, mesmerised until the sight of a sword about to slice down caused Sasuke to grab the source of the long pink hair and run as quickly as he could. As Sasuke ran Sakura continued to heal his wounds and replenish his energy.  
Sasuke could feel his strength returning and relished in the sensation of warmth and ease returning to his aching muscles. Sakura's chakra flooded his body and filled him with a sense of calm and acceptance. The Uchiha began to increase in speed and was more able to dodge the wild and angry attacks of his brother.  
"Sakura."  
"Yes Sasuke?"  
"We're going to have to fight him."  
"I know."  
"I'll put you some place safe."  
"Like hell you will! I've just got you back! I refuse to lose you again!" Sakura's voice grew shriller.  
"Hn."  
"And don't you "Hn" me! We should fight him in more open spaces. With little coverage and terrain that we know better than he does."  
"The Hokage Mount?" Sasuke asked as he swiftly changed direction to avoid an attack from Itachi, which shattered a building behind them.  
"Yes. We know the terrain better than he does. There we can wear him down."  
Sasuke increased his speed again, still clutching Sakura in his arms and ran to the top of the Hokage Mount. He allowed Sakura to slip from his arms and together they turned to face Itachi.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata had watched, hidden in a building as Sasuke had run past clutching a very much alive Sakura in his arms, closely followed by the outcast Uchiha. Naruto was flooded with relief at the sight of Sakura alive and was ecstatic to see that Sasuke had returned of his own free will. Hinata was shocked when Naruto slumped on her shoulder, wordlessly. As she raised her hands to his back she heard him murmur  
"Thank goodness." And as her hands rested on his back all the tension seeped from the fox boy and he fell asleep. Hinata smiled and pressed a gentle kiss on Naruto's blonde hair. Deciding not to wake him, Hinata allowed the boy to rest on the floor and settled next to him in a defensive position.

* * *

Sakura stood and waited. Sasuke was motionless and still. Sakura appeared calm but inside she was desperately thinking through strategies. She ran through lists and weapons available to them. If she could get close enoughtto Itachi she could place him in an extremely strong genjutsu which she and Tsunade had developed but not yet used. The only drawback was it required a great amount of chakra which Sakura didn't have. Not after healing herself and Sasuke and blasting through the rubble.  
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked quietly.  
"Hmm."  
"I will attack him with Chidori. Can you then get close enough to break his legs?"  
"I won't need to be close to him. I can do it through Cherry Blossom Impact."  
"Be ready." Sasuke said as he leapt to engage his brother.  
Sakura's mind thought furiously. If she used the Cherry Blossom Impact she wouldn't have enough chakra to carry out the genjutsu. She would either be trapped in the genjutsu with Itachi forever or she would die. Those were the only possible outcomes and Sakura would suffer through either of them if it meant Sasuke wouldn't have to kill his brother and if it meant Naruto wouldn't have to worry about being capture by Itachi for the fox demon inside him.  
Sasuke exchanged blows with Itachi. He could tell that Itachi was weakening after fighting Sakura, himself and now having had to chase them. He was flung back by Itachi had skidded to a halt next to Sakura. They both ran forward and attacked. Itachi was hard pressed to defend himself from both of the ninjas but he knew that Sakura was Sasuke's only weakness. He ran past Sasuke dodging his attacks and grabbed Sakura by the throat and placing a kunai in her armpit where he had easy access to a vein which would cut and would bleed quickly and the girl would die faster than Sasuke could move.  
Sakura gasped and tried to move away from Itachi but he tightened his grip on her neck. She choked and gargled as the air began to be deprived from her lungs.  
Sasuke lowered his katana and stepped back not wishing to provoke Itachi. If he killed Sakura, Sasuke had no idea what he would do. All he knew was that Itachi would feel pain unlike any other.  
"Put her down Itachi." Sasuke growled out the words.  
"No. She is worth more to me when I have her. She ensures my life remains mine."  
"Put her down. She has nothing to do with this!"  
"She has everything to do with this. You have become weak Sasuke. Weak! Before you would have just struck at me and damn anybody else. But then you met this girl and you became soft again. Didn't I tell you, you are an Uchiha and Uchihas don't feel emotions. We block them out. We do not allow them to rule us as you are doing. They are useless. As you have become."  
"You are wrong Itachi. My emotions make me stronger. Didn't you say to let my hatred grow so I could kill you? Now I am full of hatred for you but I don't let it rule me."  
"You are weak."  
"She makes me stronger."  
"She makes you weak." Itachi spat the words out.  
Sakura hoped Sasuke could keep Itachi distracted. She slowly reached round Itachi's back to his neck. Once her hand was hovering in the right place Sakura looked up at Sasuke and summoned the deepest breath she could.  
"I'm sorry Sasuke. I love you." Tears rolled down her face.  
"Sakura? What do you mea-" Sasuke asked. Then he saw the position of her hand. "NO Sakura!"  
Itachi turned his gaze to Sakura's and as he did so her hand landed on his neck. Itachi's dark eyes widened in realization as the pink haired kunoichi threw the two of them into a genjutsu.  
"Dark Blossom Dream Jutsu!" Sakura screamed as she plunged Itachi into her genjutsu.  
Mere seconds later Itachi slumped to the ground thrashing and writhing in the pain of her genjutsu. Sasuke sped forward and caught Sakura before she hit the ground he cradled her in his arms she writhed and convulsed with Itachi.  
"Sakura you fool! You didn't have to do that. We could have stopped him. Together!" Sasuke whispered harshly.  
Itachi's body began to slow down in his convulsions and his heartbeat began to slur and slow. Sakura's also began to slow.  
"No! No! Sakura! You can't leave me! Sakura! Sakura!" Sasuke cried. He didn't notice Tsunade run up.  
"What did she do? Sasuke! Sasuke! What did she do? Did she use the Dark Blossom Dream Jutsu? Tell me Goddammit!" Tsunade shrieked at him. Sasuke nodded his head mutely.  
Tsunade ran her hands over Sakura's body her hands pulsing with chakra. Itachi's body had long since ceased it's spasms and white foam had frothed out of his mouth.  
Sasuke hadn't noticed the demise of his brother. His attention was only on Sakura.  
"You can't leave me Sakura. You can't. You promised you would be there for me." Sasuke muttered under his breath. "You promised. You can't. You promised. Don't let go. You can't. Sakura... Sakura..." He rocked her gently...

* * *

6 Months later...

"Naruto and Hinata are getting married Sakura. The dobe finally proposed to her. Yes, she fainted. She's always fainted. Naruto's face was a picture. You should've been there Sakura. The wedding is going to be in a couple of months. Dobe and Hinata are going to come tell you this afternoon about their wedding. You have to act surprised okay? I wasn't supposed to tell you. Ino said she'd be over soon as well. And everyone else will be visiting soon. They're all busy helping the rebuilds. Konoha is almost back to its normal state. Your apartment block has been restored. I managed to get your belongings and move them to my house... Ah shit. You know I'm no good at this stuff Sakura. Normally you chatter at me and I pretend to not care when I'm actually listening to your every word. Ahhh." Sasuke flumped into the chair next to the hospital bed and put his hands in his head. He sat for a few minutes and listened to the steady beat on the heart monitor indicating that she was still alive and hadn't left him. Six months had passed since that day and Sakura hadn't woken up since then. Tsunade had managed to separate the bond between Sakura and Itachi. But she hadn't been able to rouse her from her coma.  
The nurses and Tsunade had said that sometimes it helped coma patients to return to the living if close friends and relatives spoke to them and told them about things happening. Sometime words acted as a trigger and they could fight their way through the coma and return to the world. Sasuke had been going to the hospital every day since the battle. He had talked to her for hours and brought her flowers, and objects hoping something would trigger her into returning.  
"Sakura... I know I haven't been there for you. And I simply discarded you... I.. I saw you develop when we met in battles. You've grown so strong and beautiful Sakura. And I know I haven't deserved you. I still don't deserve you. But... God Sakura, you're twisted so deeply in my mind and no matter what I do, I cannot get you out! " Sasuke sucked in a deep breath again, but this time when he spoke he was barely audible. "I need you to wake up Sakura. Wake up and tell me you forgive me... Please Sakura."

_Please Sakura, Please Sakura, Please Sakura.  
This voice echoed through Sakura's head.  
She was trapped.  
Trapped inside her own genjutsu.  
She had watched Itachi die and now she was stuck in this dark pit with only flashes of light piercing her dark world every now and again.  
The light was always accompanied by a deep voice and the moment that voice left Sakura was plunged into darkness once again.  
This time however the voice had driven deeper into her consciousness.  
And she could feel the voice dragging her back to reality.  
Her body throbbed with pain but she couldn't feel any of her limbs.  
Then her world was filled with blinding light and the world was so much brighter than it had been in many years..._

Sasuke looked up in alarm as the heart monitor began to increase its beeping, growing more and more frantic.  
"Sakura?" he said and stood up next to the bed. "Sakura?"  
Her eyes flew open and scanned the room frantically, her pupils dilating trying to focus in the bright sunlight. At last they alighted on Sasuke and focused.  
Sakura took in Sasuke's frantic, worried expression and smiled.  
"Sasuke-kun." Her voice was light and happy.  
"Sakura."Sasuke gasped and then he dropped to the floor next to her bed his head hanging down.  
Sakura rolled over anxiously and lifted his head to face her. Tears were overflowing from the normally emotionless Uchiha. Sakura realised this was the first time she had ever seen Sasuke cry. Abandoning the comfort of the bed Sakura toppled from the mattress and was caught by Sasuke who cradled her close. She in turn wrapped her arms around his head and held him to her chest. Then she whispered to Sasuke,  
"Shhhh. Hush. It's okay. I forgive you." As he heard those words Sasuke's body stiffened and then relaxed and his sobs grew deeper. Sakura continued to murmur soft nothings to her Uchiha and was content to hold him in her arms.  
" Everything's fine now. I'm here and I'm never going to let you go. Shhh. Shhh."  
In the process of falling from the bed the pulse monitors had fallen from Sakura's body and Tsunade who had been keeping an eye on them from her office in the Hokage tower was terrified when they increased and then stopped altogether. The woman sped from the tower and leapt to the ground, landing with a load bang and causing the ground to crack in several directions. Naruto who had been coming to have a meeting with Tsunade took one look at her distraught expression and turned to follow the Hokage to the hospital, overtaking her as they reached the entrance. Together the two blondes sped through the hospital corridors and burst into Sakura's room to find her cradled in the Uchiha's arms and murmuring softly to him.  
Tsunade and Naruto slumped to the ground leaning against each other with relief. Everything was going to be okay now. They knew it.

* * *

Two months later and Naruto and Hinata stood before Tsunade at their wedding. Ever since Sakura had risen from her coma life hadn't stopped. Sakura had been unable to walk properly for two months as her muscles had received little to no stimulation during her long sleep and she was completely drained of chakra. She was stood next to Sasuke who was holding her up as their best friends said their vows. The Kyuubi and the Hyuuga kissed and were pronounced Mr and Mrs Uzumaki. The crowd gathered in the chapel cheered and clapped, and were so caught up in wishing the new couple the best that no one noticed the sudden departure of Sasuke and Sakura.

In the Uchiha complex Sasuke and Sakura walked towards the main house.  
"Don't worry." Sakura said.  
"Hn."  
She laughed and twined her arm through his. "They'll be fine. No one will notice we've gone."  
"Aa."  
They walked further in a companionable silence.  
"Sakura?"  
"Yes Sasuke?"  
"Thank you."  
"I love you too."

* * *

Please Review  
Love Ryua


End file.
